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In John Bel Edwards' effort to reduce the prison population, how to handle violent crime is a sticking point

Updated on March 9, 2017 at 1:09 PMPosted on March 2, 2017 at 7:18 PM

Gov. John Bel Edwards' advisory task force on reducing the state's prison population is having a hard time figuring out what to do with people convicted of violent crimes. (Jonathan Bullington, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

A lot of support is coalescing around Gov. John Bel Edwards' push to reduce Louisiana's prison population, but an early point of contention has emerged. There is some serious disagreement among those advising the governor about how to handle people convicted of violent crimes.

The governor's advisory board on lowering the state's incarceration rates -- officially called the Justice Reinvestment Task Force -- has had a relatively easy time of coming to a consensus on most of the public policy package on prisons and sentencing they intend to recommend to Edwards two weeks from now.

The task force -- made up of judges, legislators, a district attorney, religious leader and the head of the prison system -- has not officially released its recommendations, but is expected to push for several changes to nonviolent drug and property offenses. For example, there is agreement that the penalties for stealing certain types of property should be lowered.

But the task force has been unable to reach a consensus on how to handle people who are in prison for more serious crimes, such as second-degree murder and aggravated rape. The group is backing unanimously most of the policy changes it will recommend to the governor, with the exception of a handful that mostly deal with more serious crimes.

The task force voted Thursday (March 2) to include the following policy and law changes in its list of recommendations to the governor that will come out two weeks from now. But they will be put in a separate section of the group's report that indicates the concepts don't have unanimous support.

> To allow some inmates serving life sentences to have an opportunity at parole after 30 years and when they have reached the age of 50 years old. Currently, people serving life sentences don't have any opportunity to be up for parole -- no matter how much change or growth the prison staff observes in them. This would apply to both people currently behind bars and those sentenced to life in prison in the future. It would not apply to people serving life sentences for first-degree murder.

>To allow inmates serving long sentences -- though not life sentences -- to be eligible for parole even if they have been charged with a violent or sex crime after 20 years or when they hit 45 years old. These people used to be eligible for parole until a couple of years ago, when the Legislature voted to eliminate their parole opportunity. This would apply both to people currently serving jail time and those given these long sentences in the future. This change would restore the policy that was in place a couple of years ago, before the Legislature voted to change the law.

>To allow some people sentenced to life in prison as juveniles to have an opportunity at parole. The Supreme Court of the United States has said Louisiana should give juveniles sentenced to life in prison an opportunity at parole.

>To allow people who are in prison for a violent offense to be eligible for parole earlier in their prison sentence. Currently, some offenders in prison only come up for parole after they have served 75 percent of their sentence. The task force is recommending that the requirement be dropped to 55 percent of their sentence. This exception would not apply to people in prison for a violent offense that committed another violent offense previously. This recommendation would bring Louisiana's parole policy more in line with what the state had in place before 1997, when it was bumped up to the 75 percent requirement.

>To only allow the habitual offender statute -- which makes penalties stiffer and longer for people convicted -- to apply to more serious first offenses. Specifically, to make sure a prosecutor can't bring more serious charges against a person because they have been arrested for a simple possession drug charge previously.

>To get rid of the mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years for felons caught with a firearm they aren't supposed to have. People who were convicted of violent felony would still have to serve a one-year minimum sentence if they were caught with a firearm. Judges would have the discretion to sentence all other felons to a range of years behind bars, anywhere from one to 20 years, if this recommendation was put in place.

The objections to these recommendations primarily came from the Louisiana District Attorneys Association. Bo Duhe -- the district attorney for Iberia, St. Martin and St. Mary parishes -- voted against every single one of them as the association's representative on the task force.

Pete Adams, the executive director of the district attorneys association, said giving more leniency to violent offenders was not something his organization considers up for discussion. Prior to the task force voting, a number of district attorneys testified that any changes to sentences for people convicted of a violent crime should be off the table.

"These people have criminal records as long as my leg," said Ricky Babin, the district attorney for Ascension, Assumption and St. James parishes. "There is not a single person that we put in prison that doesn't deserve to be there."

But proponents of looking at more parole opportunities for offenders, even those who committed serious crimes, said Louisiana is out-of-step with the rest of the country when it comes to sentences. For example, only in Louisiana and Mississippi do people convicted of second-degree murder get sentenced to life without parole. In 48 other states, offenders with that charge would automatically be parole eligible at some point.

There are also people currently behind bars that were never expected to be in prison as long as they have been, according to Natalie LaBorde, deputy assistant secretary for the Department of Corrections. Law changes in the late 1970s, 1980s and 1990s meant that people who were given life sentences prior to that time saw their opportunities for parole vanish.

Among those advocating for more parole eligibility for people convicted of violent crimes are those who oversee the prisons. Department of Corrections Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc and Darrel Vannoy, the acting warden at Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, said some prisoners currently serving life sentences should have a shot at parole. Several of the inmates -- particularly ones who have spent decades at Angola -- are not the same people as they were when they committed a crime and no longer pose a threat to society, Vannoy has said.

Correction: This article originally said that the governor's task force was recommending people with life sentences get parole eligibility after they had served 30 years or when they reach the age of 50. People with life sentences would only get parole eligibility after they had served 30 years and reached the age of 50 in the recommendation.